Jack Swift Berry (January 9, 1887 – June 27, 1967) was a forestry expert and lumberman and then two-term

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legisla ...

from the Republican Party.

Background

Biltmore Forestry School, Schoolhouse, Brevard vicinity (Transylvania County, North Carolina)

Jack Swift Berry was born on January 9, 1887, in

Tecumseh, Nebraska Tecumseh is a city in and the county seat of Johnson County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 1,677 at the 2010 census. History Tecumseh was originally called Frances, and under the latter name was established in 1856. The label o ...

. Both his parents died young, so a grandmother raised Berry and his brother. In 1903, Berry worked as a logger in

Black Hills, South Dakota The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk P ...

. In 1906, he studied at the

Biltmore Forest School The Biltmore Forest School was the first school of forestry in North America. Carl A. Schenck founded this school of "practical forestry" in 1896 on George W. Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate near Asheville, North Carolina.Fifty Years of Forestry ...

in North Carolina; in 1907, he obtained a degree as Forester.

Career

Forestry

United States Forest Service Regions 1-10

In July 1907, he entered the

United States Forestry Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

in Washington, DC, as a forest assistant. In 1908, he was transferred successively to: Holy Cross National Forest in Glenwood, Colorado,

Arapaho National Forest Arapaho National Forest is a National Forest located in north-central Colorado, United States. The region is managed jointly with the Roosevelt National Forest and the Pawnee National Grassland from the United States Forest Service office in ...

in Sulphur Springs, Colorado, and the newly created District 5, headquartered in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, where he worked in timber sales. He earned an advance degree from the Biltmore Forest School, in part due to a thesis on logging and lumber flumes in California. In 1912, he became Forest Examiner and in 1916 became Logging Engineer District 5 (in charge of stumpage for all California forests).

World War I

In 1917, Berry joined the US Army Corps of Engineers and served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He served as a major in an advance party of the Tenth Engineers, Forestry Department, for the

American Expeditionary Forces The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought alon ...

including time in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

(1917-1919).

Forestry

In September 1919, he became a forest (timber) valuation engineer for the California pine and redwood region at the United States Bureau of Internal Revenue, based in San Francisco. In 1921, he worked as a forest engineer for a small company. In 1923, he served as secretary of the California Forest Protective Association. His 1921 study in forestry received recognition from the California State Board of Forestry in 1923.

Lumber

In 1924, Berry served as general manager of the Michigan-California Lumber Company ("Michigan Cal") through 1949. (The Michigan-California Lumber Company owned the Camino, Placerville and Lake Tahoe Railroad (CPLT) railroad. The CPLT railroad was dismantled beginning in October 1949, with lumber hauled by trucks over a route almost twice as long as the railroad and cable system.) Berry applied the Biltmore method of

sustainable forestry Sustainable forest management (SFM) is the management of forests according to the principles of sustainable development. Sustainable forest management has to keep the balance between three main pillars: ecological, economic and socio-cultural. ...

for 90,000 acres of timber. Originally, he worked in

Camino, California Camino ( Spanish for "Path") is a census-designated place in El Dorado County, California, and, per the 2010 census, has a population of 1,750. According to the USGS, it lies at an elevation of 3133 feet (955 m). Nearby cities and towns include P ...

. In 1930, he became general manager. In 1933, he had Michigan Cal donate the 4,400-acre Blodgett Forest (near

Georgetown, California Georgetown (formerly Growlersburg) is a census-designated place (CDP) in El Dorado County, California. It is the northeasternmost town in the California Mother Lode. The population was 2,367 at the 2010 census, up from 962 in 2000. The town is reg ...

) to the University of California as a laboratory for its forestry school. In 1942, he helped establish the Amador-El Dorado Forest Forum. In 1950, he formed the Jack Swift Berry Lumber Company in

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Berry served as a lumber consultant to the National Production Authority.

California State Senate

American river running through the El Dorado hills

In 1952, Berry started service as State Senator from the then 9th District comprising

El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...

and Amador counties through 1960. He served as chairman of the Natural Resources Committee. With Placerville mayor Sandy Murray, he championed the building of U.S. Route 50 in California (US 50) and the Marshall Hospital in Placerville. On November 4, 1952, Berry won a seat as both Republican and Democratic party candidate. On November 6, 1956, he won again. On November 8, 1960, he lost and did not run again. During his first term, Berry went to the hospital to recover from a serious illness: the California State Senate passed Senate Resolution No. 17 of 1952 to "wish him a speedy and complete recovery." During his second term in 1957, he opposed a $157,000 "feasibility study" on the Stumpy Meadows reservoir and thus against an $85 million project on the Upper

American River , name_etymology = , image = American River CA.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = The American River at Folsom , map = Americanrivermap.png , map_size = 300 , map_caption ...

by the

Sacramento Municipal Utility District The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) is a community-owned electric utility serving Sacramento County and parts of Placer County. It is one of the ten largest publicly owned utilities in the United States, generating the bulk of its p ...

(SMUD).

Banking

In 1953, Berry became the first president of the newly formed Mother Lode Bank of Placerville (1953-1975), whose co-founders included Lloyd Raffetto. He remained president through 1962 when, due to a stroke, he retired.

Personal life and death

In 1912, Berry married Cecile Ball. They had three children named Jack, William, and Betty Lou. By 1930, they had divorced. Later, Berry married Florence B. Berry. Berry served as president of the Western Pine Association of Portland, Oregon, from 1939 through 1940 and of the Pacific division of the National Association of Wooden Box Shook Makers (1947-1949). Berry was a long-time member of

E Clampus Vitus The Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus (ECV) is a fraternal organization dedicated to the preservation of the heritage of Western United States, the American West, especially the history of the Mother Lode#California Mother Lode, Mother ...

and the California State Board of Forestry (part of the

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) is the fire department of the California Natural Resources Agency in the U.S. state of California. It is responsible for fire protection in various areas under state responsibi ...

). Swift Berry died age 80 on June 27, 1967, in Placerville. The California State Senate passed Senate Resolution No. 315 of 1967 to commemorate the life and service of J. Swift Berry. Grandson Phil Berry was a trust lawyer in Placerville.

Awards and legacy

* 1962: Plaque to "Swift Berry: 'Mr. Clamper'... 'A Man to Match Our Mountains'" by E Clampus Vitus in Berry Park, Placerville * Bell of Shay Locomotive Number 8, presented to Berry, now donated to the Sierra Nevada Logging Museum and located at "Eight Spot"

Works

As the Division of Forestry of the California Department of Natural Resources noted, "Throughout his career, Swift Berry wrote numerous articles and bulletins on forest utilization." * ''Shake-Making and Tray Mills in California National Forests'' (1913) * ''Lumbering in the Sugar and Yellow Pine Region of California'' (1917) * "Michigan-California Lumber Company" (1957)

References

External links

*
North Carolina State University - Special Collections - Swift Berry biography

* ttps://archive.org/details/berrysierraclub00philrich Phillip S. Berry, Sierra Club leader, 1960s-1980s
E Clampus Vitus

UC Berkeley - Fritz-Metcalf Photograph Collection - Michigan-California Lumber Company photos

Calisphere - Sawmill of Michigan-California Lumber Company photo

Montana Memory Project - Michigan-California Lumber Company cable-way photo

Pacific Cost Narrow Gauge - Michigan-California Lumber Co. photo

* ttp://www.joincalifornia.com/candidate/792 Swift Berry Political History {{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, Swift 1887 births 1967 deaths 20th-century American politicians Republican Party California state senators People from Placerville, California People from El Dorado County, California People from Tecumseh, Nebraska United States Army personnel of World War I Biltmore Forest School

Background

Career

Forestry

World War I

Forestry

Lumber

World War II

California State Senate

Banking

Personal life and death

Awards and legacy

Works

See also

References

External links